Keiler mine flail (german: Minenräumpanzer Keiler, 'tusker') is a mine-clearing vehicle developed by

Rheinmetall Rheinmetall AG is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Its shares are traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange. History Rheinmetall was founded in 1889. Banker and investor Lorenz Zuckermandel L ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to meet

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

requirements. It is a conversion of the

M48 Patton The M48 Patton is an American List of main battle tanks by generation#First generation, first-generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in February 1952, being designated as the 90mm Gun Tank: M48. It was designed as a replacement for the M2 ...

medium tank chassis in combination with a German MTU MB 871 Ka 501 liquid-cooled turbocharged Diesel engine. The main role of the Keiler vehicle is to clear a lane through minefields to let soldiers and vehicles pass safely. A deployable

mine flail A mine flail is a vehicle-mounted device that makes a safe path through a minefield by deliberately detonating land mines in front of the vehicle that carries it. They were first used by the British during World War II. The mine flail consists of ...

system has been fixed to the front of the vehicle, being used to clear both anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. Between 1997 and 1998, 24 vehicles of this kind were produced for the

Design

Keiler is built on the

medium tank hull. Developers removed the turret of the Patton and fitted the vehicle with a heavy-duty rotor-powered mine flail, a rapidly rotating cylinder mounted between two arms in front of the vehicle consisting of two shafts with 24 chains terminating in large metal "feet". In traveling mode, the mine flail folds over the vehicle. In common with other mine flails, the spinning cylinder swings the chains around, bringing the feet into contact with the ground, thus simulating the force exerted by a person or vehicle passing over the ground. If a flail strikes the ground above a buried mine, the impact will cause the mine to safely detonate. The vehicle can clear a lane wide and long in 10 minutes. An automatic system fixed on the rear of the hull marks the cleared lane. The Keiler has no defensive weapons except its smoke grenade dischargers. The vehicle is operated by a crew of two (commander and driver).

Propulsion

The original engine of the M48 Patton has been replaced with a more powerful, German MTU MB 871 Ka 501 liquid-cooled turbocharged diesel engine. This develops in traveling mode, and when driving the mine flail. A Renk HSWL 284 M transmission was fitted. The Keiler uses the same

Torsion bar suspension A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight-bearing spring. One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end termi ...

as the

tank, and has 6 wheels on each side.

Operators

* - As of 2021, 24 Keiler were in service.

References

{{Tanks converted to armored vehicles Military engineering vehicles of Germany Military vehicles introduced in the 1990s